NGOs call upon the President and Parliament`s Speaker to disclose more information about the amendments made to the law on defamation.
The third sector representatives consider quite vague, what changes  Salome Zurabishvili and Irakli Kobakhidze are talking about. They have doubts that the authorities are already aware of the changes in the law, but they do not say it.

Sulkhan Saladze, chairman of the "Young Lawyers Association", said that the amendments made by the President and the Chairman of the Parliament on the defamation law require additional explanation.
Saladze calls on Zourabichvili and Kobakhidze to explain in detail what these changes mean.
"A high-ranking official who speaks about this should openly say what these changes mean. Until now we only hear general statements, but this is not a single statement. The Chairman of the Parliament once again stated the same opinion as the President has expressed both in her New Year address and press conference a few days, but none of them are going beyond these statements, but the fact is that there are certain types of opinions and drafts.But it is not known to the society, "- said Mr. Saladze.
Executive Director of Georgian Journalistic Ethics Association Nata Dzvelishvili explains that introduction of new regulations, which will worsen existing standards, will be a threat to the country"s democratic development.
Dzvelishvili says that the current legislation allows a citizen to protect himself in case of defamation.
"It is wrong to provide information to the society as if the defamation is beyond the regulation, it is not true because if the wrong fact is spread by any citizen, whether it is public or private, it can be appealed in the court. That"s why I think that if the government wants freedom of expression in the country, it does not need additional mechanism, additional legislative amendment and tightening of existing regulations, "-Nata Dzvelishvili said.
Today, the "Media Advocacy Coalition" called on the president and the chairman of the parliament to make clear statements about legislative amendments related to defamation law.